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January 7, 2009 -- We are a week into the new year and most New Year's resolutions are a distant memory, if that. I thought this was the ideal time to look again at what tasks you might want to consider for your system as we move into the new year. So, here is my checklist of 5 important IT taks to consider for improving the way your computer system supports you.
1. Get a better handle on IT costs. There are lots of things to consider here. Simple ones include making sure that everyone turns off their computers and other electronic gear at night. Ink jet printers are dirt cheap, but the costs of ink adds up quickly, so replace them with laser printers. And, when you consider laser printers, take into account the cost per page, not just the price of the printer. Also, if you have a big, floor standing copier, consider trading it in for a copier/printer/fax; the cost per page for printing is about .01 compared with .08 for a laser printer. If you're looking for a new server, do not buy a bigger one than you need, considering the growth over the next three-four years. Also, ask you IT person whether virtualization can help save money (he or she will be impressed that you asked).
2. It's time to look (again) at security. Start here by making sure all your computers are being updated with Microsoft's security patches and updates. This will protect them from internal weaknesses against known threats, at least. Preferably, your computers should be updating automatically. Also, check make sure our anti-virus is up-to-date (You did renew your support contract, didn't you?). It's also a good time to see if there are updates to the software (called firmware) for your firewall. We usually don't look over the internal alerts from our firewalls, but this would be a good time to do so. Also, if anyone is still using Internet Explorer 6 (or earlier), this is the time to upgrade them to Internet Explorer 8 or to Firefox or Opera. If you do install either Firefox or Opera as the default browser, upgrade to IE 8 as well; some websites only work properly with Internet Explorer.
3. Move to a hosted, robust email service like hosted Exchange or Google Mail, if you don't already use one. If you are running Exchange on your server, it is time to stop unless you are a very large organization and can capture its economies of scale. Exchange requires a bigger server and now Small Business Server, with exchange, costs a lot more than the foundation version without it. Also, locally run Exchange increases maintenance costs. So, consider a hosted service. Google Mail, with your domain name, will cost you $50 per user per year (free is you are a nonprofit). And, it comes with a good anti-spam solution built-in. The good thing about both Exchange and Google Mail is that they synchronize with Outlook, so you see the same think in your Outlook client that you see in your web-mail browser.
If you have "pop" mail, you know that when you get your mail in Outlook, you can no longer see it in web-mail. Also, mail you send email via web-mail does not show up in your sent items in Outlook. Isn't this enough reason you move to hosted Exchange or Google mail?
4. Improve your computer system's resiliency. By this, I mean look at your backup system and processes for recovering from computer problems. For example, are you taking backups off-site regularly? Do you have known and, preferably, written procedures for recovering a lost file? for dealing with a down server? Have you tested those procedures lately? For example, can you actually restore a file from your backup? What do you do if a key person in is out, because of serious illness or accident?
5. Make Sure Your Disaster Recovery Plan is Up-to-Date and All Key Employees What to Do. I'm not joking: I got a new client because a fire burned down a bakery. They saved the server and a couple of computers and the owner's brother owned a bakery here in New York. The NY bakery agreed to do the production for the out-of-town bakery based on orders printed in New York from the remote server. I was asked to come in a be the hands--on for the out--of-town computer consultants after the New York City company could not get in touch with their consultant. They are now my client. The out-of-town company was very lucky. Their computer survived, but suppose it had not. What is your plan if disaster strikes?
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